EZ Rider to have new general manager

Kathleen ThurberMidland Reporter-Telegram

Published 4:19 pm, Wednesday, June 15, 2011

EZ Rider will welcome another new general manager July 1.

Chris Mandrell -- who EZ Rider's parent company, McDonald Transit, appointed to the post in May of 2010 -- is moving to Lubbock for personal reasons, said Karen York, chairwoman of the Midland-Odessa Urban Transit District Board. Mandrell took the job in Midland after graduating from a master's program at Wayland Baptist University.

Alonda Massey, interim director for the transit system in Abilene, will replace Mandrell starting July 1, York said. Mandrell's last day will be June 30.

"She seems like a really, really neat person and we're really looking forward to having her as part of the group here," York said.

The announcement was made during an executive session at the board's Wednesday meeting.

Massey will take the helm of an operation working to increase advertising revenue to cover parts of its expenditures.

Mandrell announced to the board they likely will have to pull $135,000 from EZ Rider's reserve funds to cover an anticipated shortfall this fiscal year.

The shortage comes from a combination of things, said Mandrell and John Wilson, McDonald Transit associates senior vice president out of Lubbock, but partly is due to a shortage in advertising revenue.

For the fiscal year so far, EZ Rider's operating expenses are slightly under budget. The transportation system has reported operating expenses of about $2.19 million compared with a budget of $2.25 million, according to a report provided to the board.

However, Wilson said they anticipate being about $65,000 below the budgeted advertising revenue at the close of the fiscal year. The budget called for ad revenues of about $125,000. So far this year, Mandrell said they've collected $41,145. And while they anticipate obtaining more, they still expect to be short.

Wilson said the budget also called for additional in-kind matches from Midland and Odessa or entities within the cities such as Midland College. He said they're looking to make up about $30,000, which could be done through time spent on EZ Rider projects by city staff or other methods.

The matches provided by state and local entities affect federal funding levels for the transit system, Wilson said.

Additionally, he said, they had anticipated more of its rides provided under the Americans with Disabilities Act to be matched at an 80-20 level. Instead, only $300,000 worth of para-transit rides provided to those with disabilities were matched at that level by the federal government. The remainder of the rides will be matched at a 50-50 level, he said.

The operation of para-transit costs about $600,000 annually, Wilson said.

Mandrell agreed with board members that the most effective way to bring in funds is to continue targeting advertising.

"The biggest and best way to recover that is through ad revenue," Mandrell said. "That's what we're continuing to push."

Any money drawn from EZ Rider's reserves will come from its investment account, which currently holds $400,582.72, according to a report provided by Mandrell. Wilson said funds in that account include money that was not used on expenses in previous years.